Father and Son (or rather: Grandfather and Father)

Kim Jung Il is on the left and his father, Kim Il Song is on the right. They’re shown on the Okryu bridge, famous in Pyongyang, with the even-more-famous Juche Tower in the… Continue reading →

One of many portraits seen

A picture of the Great Leader (Kim Il Song) making one of his many speeches. School children spend a considerable amount of time memorizing the dates, locations and topics of his speeches.

It’s dusk in Pyongyang

I arrived that day, haven’t been to my hotel yet, but, following the Arch of Triumph, I have to see the TV tower, and the stone monument in front of it with its… Continue reading →

The Japanese like baseball

and so, they built this stadium as a baseball stadium during the occupation By principle, therefore, it hasn’t been used for this purpose since 1945. In fact, baseball is simply not practiced in… Continue reading →

North Korean Military

The DPRK is intensely militaristic. Ten percent of the population, i.e. more than 15% of the workforce, is employed by the military. Their enemy #1 is not South Korea. Nor is it, of… Continue reading →

First images in the DPRK

So we got there. But first, there was the flight. I expected an Ilyushin or some other weird Russian, badly maintained plane with no overhead storage space. We were in an Airbus which… Continue reading →

Pyongyang – the airport

The Kimilsungia flower exhibit, and about a perk

Jumping forward a few days, I was visiting a slightly bizarre, almost outlandish flower exhibit, a symbol, in my opinion, of the sine qua non adulation of Kim Il Song and Kim Jung… Continue reading →